Name- Dilnawaz ahmad

Course- B.A.LL.B (Hons) (S/F)

Semester- 2nd semester

Roll no.- 20

Role of Elections in Democracy

Democracy is indispensible without election. Every democracy needs election to continue its democratic
structure. Election is a process in which people of a democracy chooses their representative by their concise. In
fact, every definition of a democracy has an important word in it that is “elected”. Oxford dictionary has defined
the democracy as “A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state,
typically through elected representatives.1 Elections provide fuel to the democracy so that the democracy could
not collide. Elections are the only instrument of democratic and peaceful transfer of power with the consent and
choice of the majority. If election doesn’t happens in any country , that country will move its step towards
dictatorial government because the leader of that country will do work according to his will and he will not be
terrified that if I will do any wrong work then public of my country will change me. Election works as a barrier
between the democracy and dictatorship.

A democratic government is accountable to the citizens of a country because it is a government of the people for
the people and by the people. Election creates the sense of security in the citizens that if the person to whom
they have elected doesn’t works according to his promise, they can change him. Election empowers the people
of a country by giving them voting rights irrespective of their religion, caste, creed, sex and economic condition.
Election provides the opportunity to the lower section of the society to serve the nation or to rule over a country
because a democratic country provides equal opportunity to everyone.

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an

individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative
democracy has operated since the 17thcentury2. Elections are the only instrument of democratic and peaceful

1
Definition of democracy in English by oxford dictionaries, available at:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/democracy
(Last visited on March 23, 2019)
2
Elections, available at:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-politicalscience/chapter/elections/
(Last visited on March 24, 2019)
transfer of power with the consent and choice of the majority. Therefore, the rights to vote and participate in
elections are part of the basic human rights. Human rights and democratic principles are valued world over as
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Convention on Civil and Political
Rights. This includes the “freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association,
the right to take part in the government of one's country through freely elected representatives, the right of equal
access to public service in one's country, and the recognition that the authority of government derives from the
will of the people, expressed in genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and
shall be held by secret ballot” (International IDEA on Electoral Integrity).
Electoral integrity not only gives boosts to social integration and upholds the rule of law, but regularly
scheduled elections with universal and equal suffrage, and held in secret ballot, has tangible benefits. One of the
benefits is that it empowers women, fights corruption, delivers service to the poor, improve governance and
ends political and ethnical conflicts peacefully. Moreover a peaceful transfer of power takes place, which is the
essence of democracy3.

Elections form the bedrock of the largest democracy in the world - India. Since Independence, as many as 15
Lok Sabhas have been formed through elections, the first one being held in 1951-52. The methodology of
election is through universal adult suffrage, whereby every citizen of India over 18 years of age is an eligible
voter in the eyes of the Constitution. Elections provide a way to the people to assert their voice, opinion and
choose the person whose priorities and ideas matches with them most. In India the elections are not new and
they started taking place before the independence from British rule itself. But before independence the franchise
was quit limited and very few were having rights to participate and vote. After independence, India adopted
universal adult suffrage and each adult Indian got the right to vote.

The importance of elections in India—and for that matter, in any democracy—is as follows4:

Choice of leadership: Elections provide a way for the citizens of India to choose their leaders. They do so by
casting their vote in favour of the candidate or party whose views appeal to them. This ensures that the will of
the people is reflected in the elected candidates.

Change of leadership: Elections in India are also a platform for the public to voice their resentment against a
ruling party. By voting for other parties and helping elect a different government, citizens demonstrate that they
possess ultimate authority.

3
The role of elections in strengthening democracy principles and values, available at:
https://agora-parl.org/interact/blog/role-elections-strengthening-democracy-principles-and-values
(Last viewed on March 24,2019)
4
Importance of elections in India, available at:
http://www.elections.in/importance-of-elections-in-india.html
(Last updated on November 15, 2018)
Political participation: Elections open the door for new issues to be raised in public. If a citizen of India
wishes to introduce reforms that are not the agenda of any of the parties, he or she is free to contest the elections
either independently or by forming a new political party.

Self-corrective system: Because elections are a regular exercise, occurring every five years in India, the ruling
parties are kept in check and made to consider the demands of the public. This works as a self-corrective system
whereby political parties review their performance and try to appease the voters.
With a population of over 1.2 billion (according to the 2011 census) spread across 28 states and 7 union
territories, India has a system of elections that is both daunting and praiseworthy.

Hence, it is imperative to educate the significance of voting rights among masses to ensure conscious
participation of the people in the election, reserving the right to recall. For else the elections are bound to have
an insignificant role in the changed scenario. And this conscious participation cannot but remain a far cry, if the
majority of the electorate is left languishing in the morass of poverty, ignorance and superstitions.